How to Turn Off Incognito Mode
Jun. 24, 2024While you can easily close your Incognito window on almost any PC browser using the Ctrl (Command) + Shift + W shortcut, it doesn’tdisablethe service entirely. But, isn’t Incognito mode something you should never disable, given its benefits? Well, not if you have kids or youngsters who require some adult supervision.
Since incognito mode doesn’t record history and the like, you will not be able to see any record of anything that the kid has searched for on the web. That’s where this cool trick comes in. But, how do you completely turn off incognito mode on any browser? We have listed methods to go about it on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. So, let’s quickly get to it!
How to Turn Off Incognito Mode
Before we get into disabling Incognito Mode on browsers completely, it’s essential that you know how to simply get rid of those Incognito tabs. More often than once, you probably find yourself simply exiting out of the browser instead of closing those private tabs.
That’s not the right way to go about it, and can let anyone get a peek at its content if they visit your browser. With that being said, here’s a quick rundown of how to turn off Incognito Mode on the most commonly used browsers out there:
Whether you want to close specific Incognito tabs or all of them at one go, Google Chrome lets you do so very easily across all platforms. Take a look at our dedicated guide onhow to turn off Incognito mode on Chrometo know all about it.
While the process of closing specific Incognito tabs (InPrivate in Edge) is the same as that on Chrome, Edge makes it more convenient to close all Incognito tabs at once via a dedicated button in the tab overview. You can check out our dedicatedTurn Off Incognito mode on AndroidandTurn Off Incognito mode on iPhoneguides for more details.
Safari’s UI on Mac and iOS is a bit different from the other browsers, and if you’re new to the Apple experience, you will probably have a bit of a tough time turning Incognito Mode (Private Browsing on Safari) off.
To make things easier, you can take a look at our dedicated guide onhow to turn off Private Browsing on Safari. From letting you in on how to close specific private tabs to closing all of them, we have listed all the methods.
Now that you know how to simply turn off Incognito mode, it’s time to get a little more serious and disable the feature entirely. Sadly, Android currently doesn’t have any reliable third-party apps to disable Incognito in browsers. So, you will need a PC or an iPhone to do so.
Thereusedto be good incognito blocking apps back in the day. When we revisited the Play Store, none of these apps like Incognito and Disable Incognito Mode were available. Sadly, you’re solely at the mercy of your Windows or Mac-running PC to disable incognito mode on Chrome. It’s not too difficult to do either. Just pay a bit of attention and you’ll get it right. Here are the steps:
On Windows
It will take some time to reflect on your Google Chrome. Once it does, the Incognito Mode will be greyed out and un-clickable for you. If it still doesn’t work, a quick restart of the browser will.
If you want to revert and turn on Incognito Mode again, copy and paste this command and hit the Enter key:REG DELETE HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome /v IncognitoModeAvailability. Then, just type inYes, hitEnteragain, and that should do the trick!
On Mac
And, that’s pretty much it. You can simply restart your Mac and launch Chrome to see that Incognito has now been greyed out. To enable Incognito Mode again, simply set the integer value to “0” and restart your Mac.
Just like on Chrome, there’s no in-built method or third-party apps to turn off Microsoft Edge’s InPrivate Browsing. However, you can disable the browser service on a Windows PC. To do so, follow these steps:
All you have to do now is simply restart your PC and that’s it. Your Microsoft Edge’s InPrivate Browsing Mode will now be locked and greyed out, much like the Chrome trick. To undo this, simply set the value back to “0” or delete the created keys and sub-keys and restart your PC to unlock it.
Safari lets you disable private browsing fairly easily using your Mac or iPhone’s Screen Time settings. While the process of doing so on both platforms is similar, there are a couple of interface-side differences. So, we’ve made dedicated sections for it. See below:
On Mac
That will completely disable your Safari’s incognito mode, and even the shift + command + N shortcut won’t work.
On iPhone
That should automatically render your Safari’s private browsing useless. The option itself will disappear like on Mac.
While there’s no way to turn off Firefox’s version of incognito mode on Android and iOS, you can do so easily on both Windows and Mac. Here’s how:
That should instantly render Firefox’s private windows useless, and it will crash instantly every time you try to open it.
With that, we’ve reached the end of this guide. We certainly do hope that this guide comes in handy and is exactly what you are looking for. If you have any further queries, feel free to take to the comments section down below, and we’ll get back to you pronto!
Sagnik is a tech aficionado who can never say “no” to dipping his toes into unknown waters of tech or reviewing the latest gadgets. He is also a hardcore gamer, having played everything from Snake Xenzia to Dead Space Remake.
